People's Republic of China, 1997

Please allow me to congratulate you, Sir, on your

assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at

its current session. I believe your wisdom and experience

will enable you to accomplish your lofty mission with

distinction. At the same time, I would like to express my

appreciation to Mr. Razali Ismail for his contribution as

President of the General Assembly at its last session.

This year, 1997, is no ordinary year for China. Last

February, when Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of

China’s reform and opening-up, passed away, the 1.2

billion Chinese people were immersed in deep sorrow.

Turning grief into strength, we are determined to heed his

behest by deepening reform, opening the country still wider

to the outside world, stepping up national development and

promoting the cause of world peace. Here, on behalf of the

Chinese Government and people, I would like once again

to thank the United Nations and its Member States for the

sincere condolences they expressed on the passing of Deng

Xiaoping. Your kind words gave us strength at our time of

bereavement.

Just a few days ago, the Fifteenth National Congress

of the Communist Party of China came to a triumphant

conclusion in Beijing. This Congress, holding high the great

banner of Deng Xiaoping theory, charts the future course of

China’s development with a blueprint and displays the

resolve to carry forward the cause of building socialism

with Chinese characteristics well into the twenty-first

century.

On 1 July of this year, China resumed its exercise of

sovereignty over Hong Kong, which wiped out our national

humiliation of one and a half centuries and opened up a

new chapter in our peaceful reunification. During the more

than two months since its return, Hong Kong has enjoyed

social stability and economic prosperity, which fills the

people of Hong Kong, of China and of the world at large

with great joy.

The realization of Deng Xiaoping’s concept of “one

country, two systems” in Hong Kong carries profound

significance. Firmly adhering to this concept, we will

keep up the peaceful reunification of our motherland by

ensuring a smooth return of Macao and eventually

resolving the Taiwan question. Taiwan is an inalienable

part of Chinese territory, and the Taiwan question is

purely an internal affair of China. Any country that

attempts to use the Taiwan question to put pressure on

China or even clamours for “two Chinas” or “one China,

one Taiwan” has acted in total contravention of the

purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and

the relevant General Assembly resolutions. Such

behaviour will be absolutely unacceptable to the Chinese

people, as well as to all the countries upholding justice in

the world.

As the international situation continues to undergo

profound changes, peace and development have become

the main themes of our times. The world is evolving

towards multipolarity with growing diversity in countries’

political, economic and cultural lives. This trend has

become an irresistible tide of history.

The two world wars in the first half of the twentieth

century plunged mankind into unprecedented havoc. And

the cold war, which lasted for more than four decades in

the latter half of our century, kept humanity in the dark

shadow of war. Reviewing the past and looking to the

future, people throughout the world are anxiously waiting

for the establishment of a just and equitable new

international political and economic order, and they are

hoping to see lasting peace and prosperity for all in the

coming century.

The cold-war security regime that featured military

alliances and the arms race is, as has been proved,

incapable of making peace. Expanding military blocs and

enhancing military alliances under new circumstances can

do little to bring about greater security. Relations between

States should be based on the five principles of mutual

respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual

non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal

affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful

coexistence. Each country has the right to choose a road

of development according to its own national conditions,

and no country should interfere in the internal affairs of

other countries on whatever grounds. This must serve as

the political prerequisite for global and regional security.

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All countries should increase their mutually beneficial

cooperation in the economic field, eliminate unequal

practices in trade and economic relations, and do away with

discriminatory policies with a view to gradually narrowing

the gap between the rich and the poor and achieving

common prosperity. This should serve as the economic

foundation for global and regional security.

All countries should step up consultation and

cooperation in the security field, increase mutual

understanding and trust, and undertake to settle through

peaceful means, whatever differences and disputes they may

have. This is the practical way to achieve global and

regional security.

In the first half of the year, five countries — China,

Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan — signed

the agreement on mutual reduction of military forces in the

border areas; the four-party talks aimed at bringing about a

new peace mechanism on the Korean peninsula were

launched; and the Regional Forum of the Association of

South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) introduced a

preliminary form of cooperation on security issues featuring

equal participation and negotiated consensus. These are

some of the examples of searching for new models of

security cooperation and of the initial progress already

made.

We feel concerned about the recent setbacks in the

Middle East peace process. We are of the view that the

relevant United Nations resolutions should be complied

with, agreements reached among the parties concerned in

the peace process should be honoured, the principle of land

for peace should be adhered to, and terrorist activities

should stop. We hope that the parties concerned will work

together on that basis so that the Madrid Peace Conference

on peace in the Middle East will resume at an early date.

We are also deeply concerned about the incessant conflicts

and turmoil which have plagued Africa since the beginning

of this year, and wish the African countries steady progress

along the road of peace and development.

The past year has seen new progress in the field of

international arms control and disarmament. The Chemical

Weapons Convention has entered into force; the Preparatory

Committee of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

has started its work; the extent of nuclear-weapon-free

zones is increasing; and negotiations on the efficacy of the

Biological Weapons Convention have made further

headway.

In our view, no one should try to monopolize the

market in the name of preventing proliferation or try to

interfere in the economic and technological cooperation of

other countries, developing countries in particular. An

overhaul of the discriminatory and exclusive

non-proliferation regimes and arrangements is thus

necessary, on the basis of universal participation, and the

United Nations should see to it that it accomplishes

something in this regard.

We maintain that continued efforts should be made

to advance the process of multilateral arms control and

disarmament. The universality of international arms-

control treaties should be strengthened and complete

adherence to them ensured. Instead of weakening and

undermining security, arms-control and disarmament

efforts should reinforce it. The target of disarmament

should not be shifted to developing countries, as countries

with the largest and most sophisticated arsenals bear a

special responsibility for disarmament.

I would also like to draw the Assembly’s attention

to China’s recent announcement of a unilateral step of

disarmament — that is, having reduced its troop strength

by 1 million in the 1980s, China will further reduce its

military by 500,000 troops within the next three years.

This is a move of major significance in the field of

disarmament.

In the past year, the overall situation of the world

economy has been good. Economic links and mutual

penetration among countries and regions are on the

constant increase. The importance of international

cooperation should be given a fresh evaluation with a

view to making it broader, closer and more fruitful.

Developing countries are most vulnerable to the

impact of adverse environmental conditions because of

their weak economic foundations. At present, the

international financial market is highly globalized and

very risky. We should work to stabilize the financial

market and ensure steady economic growth of the

developing countries.

The Uruguay Round agreements should be

implemented in a comprehensive, faithful and balanced

manner, and attempts to impose a linkage between

environmental or labour standards and trade must be

opposed.

Environment and development pose a common

challenge to mankind. The United Nations has held two

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important conferences in the 1990s, setting forth a set of

guiding principles for the solution of the issue. We hope the

international community, developed countries in particular,

will honour its pledges to provide funds and transfer

technology to the developing countries so as to translate the

declaration of partnership into real action.

Many transboundary issues, such as poverty,

unemployment, refugees, drugs and crime, need to be

addressed through consultation by the international

community. The work of the United Nations in the social

field needs to be strengthened. All countries should, in

keeping with the principles of mutual respect, equality and

mutual benefit, endeavour to promote international

cooperation. They should get down to practical tasks, the

first of which is to help developing countries deal with their

most urgent difficulties. We hope that the special session of

the General Assembly on international drug control,

scheduled for next year, will yield positive results by

formulating a cross-century strategy for combating drug-

related crimes through strengthened international

cooperation along with effective measures of

implementation.

China will continue to support the United Nations in

its work in the social field and will make a greater

contribution to social progress around the world.

The realization of human rights is the common ideal

of mankind. All countries have made great efforts to this

end, with both achievements and lessons. We maintain that

the universality of human rights should be respected; yet

their realization must be integrated with the conditions of

each country. A review of United Nations practice over the

past 50 years and more shows that when countries or

regions do this they will enjoy social stability, economic

development and popular contentment. When they do not,

society will face disintegration, with people losing their

most basic human rights and freedoms, and gross violations

of human rights will even take place when chaos erupts as

a result of war.

We say it is quite natural for people to differ on the

human rights issue. The question is how to deal with these

differences. Which is the better approach: dialogue or

confrontation? I opt for dialogue. Only dialogue can

enhance mutual understanding and cooperation.

Confrontation, on the other hand, can only lead to further

estrangement and do nobody any good. We are pleased to

see that more and more countries are in favour of dialogue

in handling the human rights issue.

The Chinese Government attaches importance to

human rights and is dedicated to promoting and protecting

human rights of its people. Having repeatedly suffered

from foreign aggression in the past, the Chinese people

know full well how state sovereignty and territorial

integrity fundamentally guarantee the realization of their

human rights. We in China — taking upon ourselves the

task of feeding, clothing, sheltering and educating, and

providing travel facilities to, our 1.2 billion people —

know full well how vitally important our right to

subsistence and our right to development are. To enable

our people to lead a freer, happier and more democratic

life, we are focusing above all on the development of our

economy and on advancing democracy and our legal

system.

China will soon sign the International Covenant on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and is studying

earnestly the International Covenant on Civil and Political

Rights. We stand ready to work with other countries in a

continued effort to promote cooperation in the

international human rights field.

As the most important intergovernmental

organization in the world, the United Nations occupies an

irreplaceable position in international life. At the same

time, an evolving situation calls for reform of the United

Nations.

Last July, Secretary-General Kofi Annan submitted

an extensive report on the reform of the United Nations.

We appreciate his effort.

We are in favour of reforming the United Nations.

The purpose of such reform is to strengthen the role of

the United Nations and enhance its efficiency. Measures

taken in this regard must reflect the common interests of

all Member States and the results must be able to stand

the test of time. To this end, we offer the following

views.

United Nations reform is the shared cause of all

Member States. It should allow full play to democracy,

heed the voices of all sides and take into account the

interests of various parties. The reform plan should be

widely acceptable to Member States.

To enhance efficiency, an appropriate reduction of

personnel and expenditure is necessary. What is

important, however, is for the reform to put greater

emphasis on development issues with a view to

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strengthening rather than weakening the United Nations role

in the promotion of economic and social development.

The reform should help preserve the diversity in the

United Nations, which is a microcosm of the diversity of

the world. Only when world diversity is recognized and

respected can different countries live in harmony and make

progress together.

The reform should stress practical results, place value

on quality, and progress in an incremental manner.

The enlargement of the Security Council should follow

the principle of equitable geographical distribution and

ensure a proper balance between developing and developed

countries. The Security Council will better perform the lofty

mission entrusted to it under the United Nations Charter

only when it becomes more broadly representative.

Payment of assessed dues is the bounden duty of

every Member State under the Charter of the United

Nations. We urge the countries concerned to pay off their

arrears without conditions and as early as possible in order

to put the United Nations on a sound financial basis for

normal operation.

Countries around the world need the United Nations.

So does the United Nations need their support.